Whitman, Brown clash in final debate tonight

The two major candidates for California governor head into their final televised showdown tonight with a "woman" problem dogging their campaigns - Republican Meg Whitman for her treatment of her undocumented maid, and Democrat Jerry Brown for a staffer's use of a sexist slur in referring to his opponent.

Brown Whitman:$3,000,000 for UC Berkeley Chancellor and his vice chancellors however no money for student sports.UC Berkeley’s recent elimination of popular sports programs highlighted endemic problems in the university’s management. Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s eight-year fiscal track record is dismal indeed. He would like to blame the politicians in Sacramento, since they stopped giving him every dollar he has asked for, and the state legislators do share some responsibility for the financial crisis. But not in the sense he means.

A competent chancellor would have been on top of identifying inefficiencies in the system and then crafting a plan to fix them. Compentent oversight by the Board of Regents and the legislature would have required him to provide data on problems and on what steps he was taking to solve them. Instead, every year Birgeneau would request a budget increase, the regents would agree to it, and the legislature would provide. The hard questions were avoided by all concerned, and the problems just piled up….until there was no money left.

It’s not that Birgeneau was unaware that there were, in fact, waste and inefficiencies in the system. Faculty and staff have raised issues with senior management, but when they failed to see relevant action taken, they stopped. Finally, Birgeneau engaged some expensive ($3 million) consultants, Bain & Company, to tell him what he should have been able to find out from the bright, engaged people in his own organization.

From time to time, a whistleblower would bring some glaring problem to light, but the chancellor’s response was to dig in and defend rather than listen and act. Since UC has been exempted from most whistleblower lawsuits, there are ultimately no negative consequences for maintaining inefficiencies.

In short, there is plenty of blame to go around. But you never want a serious crisis to go to waste. An opportunity now exists for the UC president, Board of Regents, and California legislators to jolt UC Berkeley back to life, applying some simple check-and-balance management principles. Increasing the budget is not enough; transforming senior management is necessary. The faculty, students, staff, academic senate, Cal. alumni, and taxpayers await the transformation.

your a huge fat rich guy or a missguided idiot who thinks the republican platform is somehow progressive or nice to average people..... and no on 23 because I like to breathe and not see oil rigs off my beautiful NORTHERN california coast.Republicans, a dying breed of morons who think humans know everything about their world already.

<quoted text>your a huge fat rich guy or a missguided idiot who thinks the republican platform is somehow progressive or nice to average people..... and no on 23 because I like to breathe and not see oil rigs off my beautiful NORTHERN california coast.Republicans, a dying breed of morons who think humans know everything about their world already.

Mmmmmmmm..........Ahhhhhh..... .....I love the smell of raw crude in the morning. So does my 454 carbureatored, smog exempt V8. Yes on 23.

Whitman looked like a fish out of water. Whitmans whole run for governor has been attack my opponent with clever ads. Well ol jerrys been around the block a time or two. & tonight he mopped the floor with Whitman.

Wake up, people. Whitman is from NEW YORK CITY! She didn't vote for anyone or anything for twenty-something years and now she wants to be the Governor of the world's ninth largest economy? If she wins, we're going to get exactly what SHE paid for.

California Arnoldfornia= a lost cause sucd dry by illegals. best we could hope for is the fault to give out and that place to sink into the abyss

Actually, the best we could hope for, in your case, is that you learn to stop pounding your fists on the keyboard. You have fingers. Use them. Or: Please go back down into your Mom's basement, eat some more doughnuts and play with your Nintendo games! If you have opposable thumbs, that is.

Wake up, people. Whitman is from NEW YORK CITY! She didn't vote for anyone or anything for twenty-something years and now she wants to be the Governor of the world's ninth largest economy? If she wins, we're going to get exactly what SHE paid for.

Very well said, thank you for writing what more than a few are thinking! Well poor megabuck Whitman already paid over 130 -140 million? Doesn't she deserve to have the job she paid for? ;-)(sarcasm just kidding all!) I didn't realize she was a carpet bagger -(or actually more of a tea bagger?) from NY. If megabuck wins, the middle class in our state will lose a lot more than we did under a relatively moderate Arnold. She and her evil sidekick Carly Frauderini are up to no good you can mark my words. Don't trust any of these secretive corporate conservatives. Job outsourcing and special favors for the top are the price we will pay.

Whitman looked like a fish out of water. Whitmans whole run for governor has been attack my opponent with clever ads. Well ol jerrys been around the block a time or two. & tonight he mopped the floor with Whitman.

Wow I did not see it that way at all! She was better prepared every step of the way!! I have not made a choice yet, so just this is just an observation!!

Meg lost her third debate. Good old Jerry owned that podium and gave concise logical answers. He looked brilliant and professional as ever. It's easy to see why he is so well liked in most parts of the golden state. I found out recently prior to being our states Atty Gen he was a very popular mayor up north. He does have a good grasp of the states current events and we need that in a leader. Experience shows. Where was megs answers? She was floudering around trying to recall what answers she thinks viewers will accept. She must have been one sadsack manager or boss at ebay. She simply isn't ready for prime time. He is much better prepared and we can't use another trainee with bushels of bad ideas recycled from bush the worst President ever. Meg will cause more gridlock and destroy more jobs and lives because of it.

Meg lost her third debate. Good old Jerry owned that podium and gave concise logical answers. He looked brilliant and professional as ever. It's easy to see why he is so well liked in most parts of the golden state. I found out recently prior to being our states Atty Gen he was a very popular mayor up north. He does have a good grasp of the states current events and we need that in a leader. Experience shows. Where was megs answers? She was floudering around trying to recall what answers she thinks viewers will accept. She must have been one sadsack manager or boss at ebay. She simply isn't ready for prime time. He is much better prepared and we can't use another trainee with bushels of bad ideas recycled from bush the worst President ever. Meg will cause more gridlock and destroy more jobs and lives because of it.

He looked like an idiot. A grumpy old man who almost blurted out that the Cal Police Chiefs were in his back pocket. Meg busted him!

Tell me when this thread is updated:

Add your comments below

Please note by submitting this form you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator. Send us your feedback.